Away days: on the road to Ayr United with Hibs fans

14 December 2016 10:22

Photographer Alan McCredie and writer Daniel Gray joined Hibs fans on their journey to Somerset Park in Ayr to take in the unique charms of the away tripBy Nutmeg magazine, part of the Guardian Sport NetworkYou sigh and your shoulders droop. Never again. That never is declared once more behind a chalky cloud fired by your own breath against the bitter and black air. You repeatedly shake your head, as if being interrogated by some unseen ghoul. All that money spent. All the miles crossed by train, car or bus. All of those other things you could have been doing, and instead you were watching a capitulation in Greenock, a rout in Dundee, a hiding in Dingwall, a trouncing in Stranraer. Could even the worst cinema trip, 3D glasses, price and all, feel half as bad as conceding an injury-time winner?Could even a doleful traipse around a retail park have foisted upon you quite the same gloom as a 3-0 defeat and one shot on goal? When you are there, an away defeat somehow feels thicker, more profound, more scarring, more alienating than its homemade equivalent. It jars. Losing at your place, there is comfort in numbers and routine, in dwelling and wallowing among people and bricks you know well. Continue reading. . read full article